Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 1:3
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
3. The consequent prosperity of the godly man is emblematically described. As a tree is nourished by constant supplies of water, without which under the burning Eastern sun it would wither and die, so the life of the godly man is maintained by the supplies of grace drawn from constant communion with God through His revelation. Cp. Psa 52:8; Psa 92:12; Psa 128:3; Num 24:6. If a special tree is meant, it is probably not the oleander (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 146), which bears no fruit; nor the vine (Eze 19:10); nor the pomegranate; but the palm. Its love of water, its stately growth, its evergreen foliage, its valuable fruit, combine to suggest that it is here referred to. Cp. Sir 24:14 ; and see Thomson’s Land and the Book, p. 48 f.
the rivers of water ] Better, streams of water: either natural watercourses (Isa 44:4): or more probably artificial channels for irrigating the land. Cp. Pro 21:1; Ecc 2:5-6.
and whatsoever &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper. The figure of the tree is dropped, and the words refer directly to the godly man. The literal meaning of the word rendered prosper is to carry through to a successful result. Cp. Jos 1:8; and for illustration, Gen 39:3; Gen 39:23.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he shall be like a tree – A description of the happiness or prosperity of the man who thus avoids the way of sinners, and who delights in the law of God, now follows. This is presented in the form of a very beautiful image – a tree planted where its roots would have abundance of water.
Planted by the rivers of water – It is not a tree that springs up spontaneously, but one that is set out in a favorable place, and that is cultivated with care. The word rivers does not here quite express the sense of the original. The Hebrew word peleg, from palag, to cleave, to split, to divide), properly means divisions; and then, channels, canals, trenches, branching-cuts, brooks. The allusion is to the Oriental method of irrigating their lands by making artificial rivulets to convey the water from a larger stream, or from a lake. In this way, the water was distributed in all directions. The whole land of Egypt was anciently sluiced in this manner, and it was in this way that its extraordinary fertility was secured. An illustration of the passage may be derived from the account by Maundrell of the method of watering the gardens and orchards in the vicinity of Damascus. The gardens are thick set with fruit trees of all kinds, kept fresh and verdant by the waters of the Barady …. This river, as soon as it issues out of the cleft of the mountain before mentioned, into the plain, is immediately divided into three streams, of which the middlemost and largest runs directly to Damascus, and is distributed to all the cisterns and fountains of the ciy. The other two, which I take to be the work of art, are drawn round, the one to the right, and the other to the left, on the borders of the gardens, into which they are let out, as they pass, by little rivulets, and so dispersed over all the vast wood, insomuch that there is not a garden but has a fine, quick stream running through it. Trav., p. 122.
A striking allusion to trees cultivated in this manner occurs in Eze 31:3-4 : Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high, with his rivers running round about his plants, and sent out his little rivers unto all the trees of the field. So Ecc 2:4 : I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees. No particular kind of tree is referred to in the passage before us, but there are abundant illustrations of the passage in the rows of willow, oranges, etc., that stand on the banks of these artificial streams in the East. The image is that of a tree abundantly watered, and that was flourishing.
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season – Whose fruit does not fall by the lack of nutriment. The idea is that of a tree which, at the proper season of the year, is loaded with fruit. Compare Psa 92:14. The image is one of great beauty. The fruit is not untimely. It does not ripen and fall too soon, or fall before it is mature; and the crop is abundant.
His leaf also shall not wither – By drought and heat. Compare Job 8:16, note; Job 15:32, note. It is green and flourishing – a striking image of a happy and a prosperous man.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper – This is a literal statement of what had just been put in a figurative or poetic form. It contains a general truth, or contains an affirmation as to the natural and proper effect of religion, or of a life of piety, and is similar to that which occurs in 1Ti 4:8 : Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This idea of the effect of a life of piety is one that is common in the Scriptures, and is sustained by the regular course of events. If a man desires permanent prosperity and happiness, it is to be found only in the ways of virtue and religion. The word whatsoever here is to be taken in a general sense, and the proper laws of interpretation do not require that we should explain it as universally true. It is conceivable that a righteous man – a man profoundly and sincerely fearing God – may sometimes form plans that will not be wise; it is conceivable that he may lose his wealth, or that he may be involved in the calamities that come upon a people in times of commercial distress, in seasons of war, of famine, and pestilence; it is conceivable that he may be made to suffer loss by the fraud and dishonesty of other men; but still as a general and as a most important truth, a life of piety will be followed by prosperity, and will constantly impart happiness. It is this great and important truth which it is the main design of the Book of Psalms to illustrate.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 1:3
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.
The tree similitude
A beautiful illustration of the perpetual verdure and fruitfulness of the piety deriving its origin and sustenance from the Word of God. It is compared to a tree whose roots are refreshed by never-failing streams of living water, and whose every part is instinct with the life flowing from its roots. It is the same with the piety nourished by the Word of God. As the sap of the tree imparts life not only to its roots, and trunk, and larger branches, but also to the remotest twig and leaf, and to the very down upon the leaf, so the truly godly mans piety pervades his whole life, imparting its spirit and character and beauty to everything he does he is not a religious man in one or two departments of life, but he is a religious man everywhere. His religion is a mental habit–a habit of thought, of feeling, of purpose, of action, of which he never for a moment divests himself. He aims that not so much as a leaf on his tree of righteous living shall show signs of decay. The same spirit that actuates him in the largest, actuates him also in the least transaction of his life. His religion is not a thing that is put on,–it is the man himself–the man in the man. Consequently the storm that bows mock trees of righteousness to the earth, leaves him still standing; the drought that dries up their streams of life, leaves his still full, fresh, and flowing. Vigour, verdure, and fruitfulness are his evermore. His source of strength can never fail. It is the river of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, reaching his soul through the law of the Lord, wherein is his delight and unceasing meditation. (David Caldwell, A. M.)
Amongst the trees of the wood
The blessed man is like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.
1. Its blessedness does not depend upon its kind. It is not the cedar of Lebanon of which David is thinking, but any tree. It is not the tree, but the planting and the place, that constitute the blessedness. We need not think that we are the wrong sort. Two kinds of religious people in the world. There are those who always want to be somebody else: and there are those who want everybody else to be exactly what they themselves are. Now the woods need all the kinds of trees that God has made; and the world wants all the kinds of people that God has sent into it. Some people are perhaps very different from what God made them, but He wants us to be everyone after his kind.
2. We can none of us afford to make much of ourselves, but we can all of us afford to be ourselves. I am not much at the best; but I am best when I am myself. Now, timid soul, the heavenly Father has room for you.
3. Notice that the tree is planted. It did not plant itself. It surrendered itself wholly and utterly to the husbandman. He took it in hand and dealt with it, and that was the beginning of its prosperity. This utter and whole-hearted surrender of ourselves to the Lord is the first sign of the blessed life. The husbandman must have possession before he can do any planting. Planted, the tree begins to put forth at the one end the roots that go out and clasp the rocks, and at the other end the branches spread and leaves unfold, and it drinks in the rain and sunshine of heaven. It is the fair emblem of the man of God, rooted in obedience, rising to communion. There is the man of God; the law of his God is an authority supreme, that knows no argument, no exception, no choice. I must and I will grip the law of God. Here is stability, You know where to have that man. Right is might with him. But a tree is not all root. Here, laughing in the sunshine, sporting in the breeze, dripping with the shower, is the branch that pushes out over earth and up into heaven. The emblem of freedom. But the branch is always in proportion to the root. The obedience and the communion keep pace.
4. It is a tree planted by the rivers of water. There is not only a rock to hold on to, but there is the river to refresh it. Rock and river, river and rock, this is what the law of God becomes. They who do not know think of the law of God as the hard stern voice of thunder, with its Thou shalt. But they who do know cry, Great peace have they that keep Thy law. It is rivers of waters, sweet, refreshing, quickening. So, rooted in obedience and stretching up into communion, the blessed man comes to be like a tree; there is stability, and steadfastness. He knows whom he has believed, and is persuaded that that will hold though winds may blow and rains may heat. He bringeth forth his fruit in his season. He hath the real spirit for the hour; the very occasion seems to bring the grace he needs. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
The supremely happy man
We are here introduced to one who is said to be very happy. Oh, the happinesses of the man would be a literal translation of the Psalmists words; and the expression is one indicating fulness of happiness–more than ordinary joy. It is also to be noted that the happiness of the man is the first thing to which the inspired writer refers, and that circumstance is indicative of the truth stated, that mans happiness is so great and so excellent that it must have the first place. The springs of joy from which he drinks are sweeter far than the sweetest of those from which others drink. The flowers in his garden have a loveliness and fragrance the flowers in other gardens never have. The paths of other men may seem brighter and smoother, but this is only in appearance. Every difficulty overcome is a victory won, and adds to his happiness. In what does this mans happiness consist? To know the various elements of his blessedness we must study the picture–carefully note its several distinctive points.
I. Our attention is directed to the fact that the tree is one carefully planted. The word used by the Psalmist is not the ordinary term meaning to sow or plant, but the poetical and much rarer word. The same is found in Psa 92:13 –Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. The trees planted within the temple enclosures would be planted with skill and care. This tree also is planted in a choice spot, and would therefore be planted well. It has sprung from no stray seed which the wind may have wafted hither, or some bird carried and dropped where grows the tree. And such is true of the man who is really happy and most happy. He is a tree of the Lords right hand planting. He is the offspring of wisdom that is perfect and care that is infinite. And this fact constitutes part of his joy.
II. The situation of the tree must have our attention. The tree grows not on some barren waste, but upon the rivers of water. By these rivers I understand the multitudinous and various overflowings of the Divine grace–the rivers of pardon, peace, comfort, teaching, sanctification, etc.
1. The plural term indicates also fulness as well as variety of blessing in constant circulation round about the roots of the Christians life.
2. There is also in it the promise of continuance. If one stream dries up there are other streams to draw from.
3. Another thought is expressed, namely, freshness. The rivers are running streams. Here there is another element of the good mans happiness. He is felicitously situated.
III. The fruitfulness of the tree must next be considered. As might be expected, the tree bears fruit. By this we are to understand the mans habit of doing good. The pronouns are to be noted.
1. It is not said he brings forth fruit, but his fruit. Christian activity takes many forms, and a man will do most good and do it best who is no servile imitator of another, but who works in his own groove, and in the way most natural to himself. And there is a beauty and gracefulness about work done after this manner that always adds to its value. The tree brings forth his own fruit, and the happy Christian does his own work. The Master gives to everyone his work.
2. Again, the tree brings forth his fruit in his season. Seasonableness is itself a virtue. Work done opportunely is the only work done rightly. Here we touch a leading difficulty in some earnest lives. The question as to when this should be done, and when that, is the perplexing point. He is therefore a man led of Gods Spirit, and this leading saves him from the painful perplexity of not knowing what he should first do and what next. By this means his work is simplified. His duties come to him in natural order–one at a time. God shows him not only what he must do, but how, and when. Here is another clement of happiness. A fruitful life is a happy one.
IV. From looking at the fruit of the tree we turn to its foliage. This is beautiful, and always so. His leaf also shall not wither. Now if by the fruit we understand a mans works, by the leaf it will be natural to regard his words. What a man does and says constitutes his character. Works have a great importance, but so also have words. By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. His leaf shall not wither–his words shall not die. He being dead, yet speaketh. Another element of happiness in the good man. The words of his mouth shall be established, and their influence shall be felt forever. The tongue is a little member, but how great is the happiness it may secure for the good man who uses it aright. And in making others happy one makes himself most happy. And all that he does shall prosper. Here the works and words are interwoven. It is when the two do interweave and harmonise that there is prosperity. Note, it is not all he attempts or carries forward so far and there stops that shall prosper, but all that he doeth. And this is happiness supreme–doing good–by work or word–crowned with prosperity. (Adam Scott.)
Aspects of a godly life
Three aspects of godly character.
I. Its variety. The figure leaves room for the development of varieties of goodness. True godliness does not reduce men to a dead level. The variety which God stamps upon nature He means to have reproduced in character. It is often supposed that, by becoming a servant of God, a man loses all his distinctiveness, sacrifices many of his peculiar modes of power, and shuts himself up to a comparatively narrow range of activity; whereas the truth is, that no man ever finds out the variety of uses to which the human talent and power can be put until he begins to work under Gods direction.
II. Its Divine culture. The godly man is not like a tree that grows wild. He is like a tree planted, and that in a place which will best promote its growth. Godly character is developed under Gods special supervision, and with Gods own appliances. Has God no other means of revealing His will but through a burning bush or a stunning shock? His modes of revelation are as many as the characters and circumstances of men, and as varied; and He does not mean that His lowliest servant shall work under the shadow of a doubt, whether he is in his place or not. He may make circumstances, or conscientious judgment, or special dispensations His messengers, but whatever be the messenger, the message shall be clear to the open eye and the obedient spirit–I have planted you. And if a man is working and growing where God sets him, he is always within reach of the means necessary for his growth and fruitfulness. He is always planted by rivers of water. Men find these channels in the most unlikely places, in the most unpromising parts of Gods garden. In their very work they find something to engage their energy, quicken their enthusiasm, and develop their power. This is a mystery to men of the world. They look at the places in which some of Gods servants are planted, and say it is Impossible they should bear fruit there. Circumstances are all against them. There are no capabilities in the place. And yet, amid sickness, bereavement, scant opportunities, hatred, scorn, they not only live, but grow, and have something to spare for other lives; yea, minister to them most richly and effectively. What is more, they themselves are cheerful and strong, and grow in sweetness no less than in power.
III. Its fruitfulness. Gods tree by Gods river must be a fruitful tree. Note
1. It is His fruit, not any other trees fruit. God gives the tree its nature, and plants it where it can best develop its nature, and looks for fruit according to its nature and place. You are not to waste time in admiring or envying other mens modes of power, but to give your whole energy to the development of your own mode of power. And if your best is only a single fruit you can say, God planted me that I might do that one thing.
2. The words in his season. The seasons are different for different fruits. Some are early, some are late. Moral growths do not all fructify at the same time or rate. The latest fruit is usually the best. But, early or late, the fruit of godly character is seasonable. It will be found that God nourishes His men as He does the fruits of the earth, to meet the demands of special seasons; and that in each individual character Divine graces fructify as the occasion demands: courage for seasons of danger, patience for seasons of suffering, strength for seasons of trial, wisdom for seasons of difficulty; ill short, the beautiful fitness of godliness is no less remarkable than its fruitfulness. Shall prosper. This suggests the standard of prosperity. It must be measured by Gods rule, not mans. I stood last summer in a magnificent hothouse, where the luscious clusters of grapes were all around and above, and the owner said, When my new gardener came he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clear down to the stock; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years: but this is the result. It did not look much like fruit when the stock stood bare, and the floor was heaped with cuttings; but the gardener looked over the two years, and saw what we were seeing and tasting. (M. R. Vincent, D. D.)
A tree sermon to children
Six characteristics of trees.
1. Contentment. I never heard of a tree complaining. They are perfectly contented with their lot. Did you ever hear of a maple wishing it were an oak? They have not so much to make them contented as we have. The Christ-Spirit in us will make us happy and contented.
2. Health. How many of you have seen an unhealthy tree? The perfect boy or girl is the one who, like the tree, is healthy. We should attend to these bodies of ours. We should be careful to eat and drink those things which will give us sound bodies. We need to keep our minds, bodies, and souls healthy.
3. Roots. A great part of a tree is underground. Two reasons for this–to hold the tree in its place, and to nourish the tree. A perfect man, a perfect woman, boy, or girl is one who is well-rooted. Among the roots which hold us stable and keep us from falling are–
(1) Good habits formed early in life;
(2) good companions;
(3) good books.
4. Importance. Trees are used in building, furniture, ships, and as medicine. Their fruit is important. The perfect man is important to society, to home, to national life. What should we do without the ideal man and woman?
5. Symmetry. The word means perfectly balanced in all its parts. Some trees have perfect proportions. There are men who have only attended to physical development; others only to intellectual development. The symmetrical man is one who has attended to the development of the mind, body, and spirit.
6. Trial. A mighty oak is perfect, because it has been tried. Tempests have swept over it, but still it stands. The perfect man, woman, boy, or girl is the one who, when tempted and tried, comes off the victor. Tried, weighed, and not found wanting, Tried and found to be sound. (Frank S. Rowland.)
A sermon on trees
(to children):–
1. One of the most wonderful things about the trees is the way in which they breathe. Does it make you smile to think of a tree breathing? Do you say, Well, I never thought of that before! I didnt know a tree could breathe. But they do, if it does surprise you, and they could no more live without breathing than could you or
I. If it was not for the trees and other plants breathing the air would soon become filled with poisonous gas which would make everyone sick, and soon cause us all to die. On the under side of every leaf of every tree, or shrub, or other plant there are thousands of little breathing holes or mouths. There are some also on the upper surface of the leaf. These are small openings through the outer skin of the leaf into the air chambers within, making a direct communication between the whole interior of the leaf and the air outside. You cannot see these little mouths with the naked eye. You have to use a microscope or magnifying glass, and then you can see them. The famous botanist, Professor Asa Gray, tells us that in the white lily, when they are unusually large, there are about sixty thousand of them to the square inch on the lower surface of the leaf, and about three thousand in the same space of the upper surface; and that in the apple tree, where they are under the average as to number, there are about twenty-four thousand to the square inch of the lower surface; so that each leaf has not far from one hundred thousand of these mouths. The trees are made by God to take out of the air a gas which would kill us all in a very little while if it u ere allowed to remain; and having taken it into their trunks they split it up into two parts, oxygen and carbon, and give us back the former that we may breathe it and live; while the latter they make into charcoal, which is used in a thousand ways for our comfort, convenience, and health. So kind is God in making all things work together for good unto us whom He so dearly loves.
2. Another great use of the trees is, as we all know, to furnish food for man. Just think of all the things we get from them, and from other plants! Not only delicious oranges, and apples, and pears, and peaches, and all other nice fruits; but also starch, sugar, spices, oil, tea., coffee, flour, and grain. All these things are prepared by the plants out of the elements which they take in from the earth and air. They have been so made by God that they have the power to produce subtle chemical changes in these unpalatable materials, which they thus transform into delicious food for man. Says the same botanist above quoted, Animals depend absolutely upon vegetables for their being. The great object for which the all-wise Creator established the vegetable kingdom evidently is, that the plant might stand on the surface of the earth, between the animal and mineral creations, and organise portions of the former for the sustenance of the latter. We must indeed see the goodness and the love of God in the goodly fruits of the trees.
3. Another very interesting branch of our subject is in regard to the habits or instincts of the trees. Wherever a tree may be growing, if there is a stream or pool of water anywhere near it, or a damp piece of ground, it will always push its roots eagerly toward that. It wants the hydrogen and oxygen which the water can furnish, and it will have them if it can possibly get them. In other words, it is thirsty, just as we are thirsty, and it eagerly seeks for water to drink. For example, I have read. (Horace Bushnells lecture on Life) of a man named Madison, who had an aqueduct–that is, a sort of trough made of logs–which in reaching his house passed by a tree which was especially fond of water, at a considerable distance from it. Opposite to where the tree stood there was an auger hole in the log that had been filled with a plug of soft wood. Exactly to that spot the tree sent off a long stretch of roots, which forced their way through this soft wood plug, choking up the passage; and there, says the account, they were found drinking, like so many thirsty animals. The same writer who tells this incident, says that a strawberry planted in sand, with good earth a little way off, will turn its runners all toward that. But if the good earth is too far away to be reached, it will make no effort on that side more than on the others. You can try this experiment if you want to, and see if it is not so.
4. Then it is wonderful to see a tree exerting its mighty strength. For in every tree in your garden at home, and in everyone that you can see from these windows, and in all the trees of the forests and on the hills, there is a life principle, the strength of which is as great as, or greater than, that of the largest steam engine you ever saw. Why, in the commonest garden vegetable there is a force capable of lifting an enormous weight. And if you go down here on the road a little way, some time, you can see a huge rock that has been broken right in two by the strength of a little tree not much larger round than my arm. Some time, years ago, a little cone lodged in the crevice of that rock, and pretty soon the rains and the warm sun caused one of the little seeds in the cone to germinate and grow. A little root ran out and down into the crevice, and began growing. Soon it had got as large as the crevice, and touched the hard rock on each side. And no doubt the grim old rock would have laughed, if rocks could laugh, and would have said to the tiny little pine tree, You insignificant little sprout, you cant grow here, for I wont let you, so you may as well not try. But the little tree kept growing, and pretty soon began to press hard on the sides of the crevice; harder and harder it pushed, and twisted round to get a good hold, filling up the whole space with its insinuating roots. And the rock hung together, and braced itself, and tried its best not to give way. But at last one dark night crack it went, and broke in two right in the middle. And all because of the little tree, which it had thought so weak and small. A tree has in it this wonderful power of growth and enlargement. It is always growing, running up taller and taller, and getting larger and larger every year. And if it is broken by storms or felled to the ground it often reconstructs its building, and rears itself again with all its wonderful ducts, and tissues, and breathing pores, like to the pattern which it bore before. And all the trees, so many kinds of which we can see around us in the forests, though they have different forms and characteristics, and are put to different uses, still contribute, each its share, to fulfilling the plans and perfecting the work which God gave them to do upon the earth. There is no confusion. Each has its law within itself, and fills the sphere which God intended it to fill. (F. H. Palmer.)
The fruit tree and the chaff
The 1st Psalm strikes the keynote of those statutes of God which are the songs of His people in their pilgrimage. Like an illuminated initial letter, it presents a graphic picture of the contrast between the blessedness of the righteous and the misery of the wicked under the emblems of a fruit tree flourishing beside a river and of a handful of chaff winnowed by the wind. Let us look at the picture presented.
I. The fruit tree. This suggests–
1. Stability. It is firmly rooted in the soil. Thus it tells of the stability of the righteous.
2. Access to a perennial mine of nourishment and refreshment: by the rivers of waters. A river in the East is an artery of life. A tree, therefore, with its head in the torrid sunshine, and its feet laved by a perpetual stream flowing down from some far-up snowy mountain, is one of the most beautiful images of a righteous man.
3. It yields its fruit in its season. Fruit is that part of the tree which belongs not to the individual, but to the race. In the fruit the tree sacrifices its own life for the life that is to spring from it; converts branch and foliage that would have remained and ministered to its own beauty, into blossom and fruit that fall off and minister to the good of others. In no case does the fruit benefit the tree, but, on the contrary, burdens and exhausts it, as is clearly proved by the shorter lives of fruit than of other trees. So the distinguishing peculiarity of the righteous is self-sacrifice. They have truly learned that first lesson of the Cross of Christ. They, as He, come not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give their life for others.
4. Its leaf shall not wither. This is a remarkable feature. It is the old idea of the bush burning and not consumed. In nature it is only through the fading of the leaf that the fruit ripens. The yellowing autumnal foliage accompanies the development of the fruit. By the leaf the tree breathes and forms its wood from air and sunshine. It is its strength, yea is itself; for the whole tree is simply a modification and development of the leaf, as it is most certainly the creation of the leaf. The leaf, therefore, represents the righteous mans life. Not only does he do good to others, but he gets good to himself. Godliness is to a mans nature what sunlight is to a plant. It imparts living greenness and fadeless vigour.
II. The chaff. This is a complete contrast.
1. Chaff is a dead leaf that was once green and flourishing and full of sap and life. It once performed an important part in the growth of the plant. But now it is effete and has no vital connection with the plant. How worthless does a human being become who has lost his true life by sin.
2. It is driven away. It has fallen from the higher powers of the organic world and it comes under the power of the inorganic. And so with the ungodly man. That which separated him from the mass of creation–the Divine image–he has lost. But losing this he becomes a mere part of the creation, instead of having personal relations with the personal God. The ungodly have no individuality; they live, move, and act in the mass. The statistics of wrong-doing illustrate this. You can calculate the average of crimes; the number of paupers, suicides, and criminals there will be. The evil passions of men may be known as we know the coming of an eclipse. And thus the awful lesson is read to us that individuals when they have sold themselves to sin and so lose the spiritual life that bound them to God come to be controlled, notwithstanding all their waywardness, by laws which apply to mere things in which there is no power to resist. They pass beyond the sphere of the grace of God into the passive realms of matter.
3. All things become hostile to it. What ministers life to the living tree ministers more rapid decay to the chaff. Which are we? (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
A tree by the river
It is deeply interesting, in counting the circles of a section of some old tree, to note the variations, some circles being almost imperceptible for narrowness, and some so broad that you fear almost to have counted two as one. As you count the outer circles, your memory, reaching back to those years, can show a cause for this difference. The years of drought are the years of little growth. For the tree, as for our spirits, it holds true that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. There are surely seasons when one can make little increase save under exceptional circumstances, such as those of a tree by the river side, which shows little variation. It drew supplies from an abiding source. Precisely this sweet secret it is that finds expression in the 1st Psalm, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. They who live near the Lord, who delight themselves in His law and meditate on it day and night, are ever growing and fruitful. (Sarah Smiley.)
The oleander
There is one tree, only to be found in the valley of the Jordan, but too beautiful to be entirely passed over; the oleander, with its bright blossoms and dark green leaves, giving the aspect of a rich garden to any spot where it grows. It is rarely, if ever, alluded to in the Scriptures. But it may be the tree planted by the streams of water which bringeth forth his fruit in due season, and whose leaf shall not wither. (A. P. Stanley, D. D.)
A believer like a tree
Dr. John Paton, speaking of Namakei, his first convert on the island of Aniwa, says, He went in and out the meeting with intense joy. When he heard of the prosperity of the Lords work, and how island after island was learning to sing the praise of Jesus, his heart glowed, and he said, Missi, I am lifting up my head like a tree; I am growing tall with joy.
Constancy in religion
I have read of a waterfall in a noblemans garden, beautiful in its construction, but the water was never turned on unless his lordship was there. That is like much of the religion existing in the present age. It is only turned on when there is someone to see and applaud. Our service must not be kept for mere effect and display. (R. Venting.)
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.—
Christian development
This reference to the tree as the image of the good mans life, this garden which is thus summoned up before our minds, harmonises with almost all the early, and certainly with the closing, scenes in our Bibles. It is significant that the image which is chosen is not a tree of the forest, but a tree specifically planted by the water side. The image of the tree of nature–of the tree in its wild untended state–has been freely used by a school of thinkers as against any doctrine of human education whatever. But vegetable life may, under certain circumstances, gain very considerably by cultivation. Cultivation develops latent properties, latent powers. It prevents a waste of life, it economises time in growth. Man is not a tree, but he is like a tree. He has qualities and characteristics peculiar to himself. He has intelligence, and no doctrine of human improvement would be complete which did not provide for the development of his understanding. He is morally free, he is social; in these things there must be development. He is depraved, and if a man is left to himself he will grow in his depravity. Therefore man must be checked, reproved, chastised. There are points of similarity between human nature and vegetable growth.
I. Each is gradual The growth of the spiritual life is in the nature of the case slow, because it consists chiefly in the formation of habits of faith, hope, love, prayer, inward conformity of the soul to the will of Almighty God.
II. Each is mysterious. We cannot understand the mysterious processes which pass within the soul; we can only see the outer life, the words and the actions, which are the products of the feelings engendered by grace. As a tree requires soil, sunlight, moisture, and space for its proper growth, so the human soul requires certain ascertainable conditions, without which growth and development are impossible. I will mention three.
1. The life of the soul should be based upon principles. They are the soil of the soul. Sentiments, opinions, and views belong to quite a different strata of mental life from the possession of principles. Principles–what are they? They are the basis of truth on which the understanding must lean if man is to rise to the destined tether of his greatness. The understanding is the basis faculty of the character, but the understanding itself must rest on something. And what is it to rest on if not on sound principles? This is true in science, in art, in speculation, and in religion. Some principles are natural. Seeing the difference between right and wrong; recognising the eternal law of justice and righteousness, these are natural principles. Some belong to grace, they are revealed, such as that Jesus is God equal to the Father, and that Jesus is our Judge. Sooner or later a principle brings forth its fruit in due season. But you may have long to wait for it.
III. Christianity must expand. It must expand by love. The heart is the centre of life. The heart may be corrupted through being fixed on false objects, or it may be closeted up. Either of them is a misfortune so great that we can scarcely think less of it than that it is very ruining to character. Ascertain the object on which the heart is fixed and you have ascertained the direction in which moral and spiritual life is moving. One condition of the development of the soul is the discipline of the will. The will is the summit of the character, just as the heart is at its centre, just as the understanding is at its base. (Canon Liddon, D. D.)
Fruit in his season
Solomon uttered an axiom when he said, To everything there is a season. The truth is applicable to all God does. As in creation its mode and time were not anyhow but appointed. And what is true on the larger scale is also true on the smaller. And to every individual. Your birth and death are appointed by God. To you there is a season.
I. There is fruit appropriate to each season. This not only in the physical world but in the moral.
1. Childhood has its fruits. Like the holy child Jesus you are to bear fruit by loving, trusting, and imitating Him. In your baptism you have been given to Christ and are His. He expects you to bear fruit.
2. Youth has its fruit. St. John speaks of little children, young men, fathers. You occupy the middle position. I have written to you, says the apostle. Young men and maidens, be sober minded and strong minded too.
3. Old age has its fruits. When the spring is gone, the summer vanished, how varied and multiplied the fruit of autumn. And there are fruits not only of season, but
4. Of time. Our Sabbaths, for example, and working days and days of relaxation also should have their fruit. And there are–
5. Moral seasons. Conviction–how important this is. It is a solemn season when God comes near the soul. And the time of spiritual quickening when the soul longs for more of God. Seasons of sorrow, of joy, and of temptation, these all have their appropriate fruit.
II. It is most important that the fruit appropriate should be borne in its season. For then it is best.
1. Your lifetime–if it bear not its fruit it will never bear it at all. How are you spending it?
2. Religious impression–if that pass away, a more convenient season you will never have.
III. For this suitable means must be employed. It is the result of previously fulfilled conditions.
1. Separation from the ungodly is one of them.
2. Meditation on Gods Word.
3. Hidden supplies of Gods grace, like the water at the roots of the tree. They flow along the channels of Divine ordinances, prayers, worship, sacraments. So will you bear fruit. (Josiah Viney.)
The timeliness of fruitage
A very practical lesson arises from these words. We are not to look even in Christian life for what is ordinarily understood by fruit all the year round. Upon this point many Christians disquiet themselves unnecessarily. There is a time for rest, for recruital, and time spent in legitimate sleep is time made for larger and harder work. Let the tree be the symbol and image of our life. It has its season of fruitfulness, but not of fruitlessness in any blameworthy sense. The tree is part of the great course of things–a speck in an infinite system, and it keeps all the time and law of the stupendous universe. So it is with the Christian heart. There are times of abundant labour, of almost excessive joy, of hope above the brightness of the sun, and of realisations which transform the earth into heaven. There are times when our energy seems to be more than equal to all the exigencies of life; we can work without weariness, we can suffer without complaining; we are quite sure that the morning draweth nigh, and that in the end the victory will he with God. At other times there are seasons of depression, almost intolerable weariness, somewhat indeed of sickness of heart, as if a great pain had fixed itself within us; at other times we know that we are not bringing forth fruit to the glory of God or for the use of man, and in such times we call ourselves cumberers of the ground, and urge our idleness against ourselves with all the force of a criminal accusation. The Christian should deal with himself reasonably in all these things. The year is not one season, nor is human life one monotonous experience. We are not to be judged by this or that one day or season, but by the whole scope and circumference of life. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The influence of religion upon prosperity
1. Piety and gratitude to God contribute in a high degree to enliven prosperity. Gratitude is a pleasing emotion. The sense of being distinguished by the kindness of another gladdens the heart, warms it with reciprocal affection, and gives to any possession, which is agreeable in itself, a double relish, from its being the gift of a friend. Not only gratitude for the past, but a cheering sense of Gods favour at the present, enter into the pious emotion.
2. Religion affords to good men peculiar security in the enjoyment of their prosperity. By worldly assistance it is vain to think of providing any effectual defence, seeing the worlds mutability is the very cause of our terror.
3. Religion forms good men to the most proper ,temper for the enjoyment of prosperity. A little reflection may satisfy us that mere possession, even granting it to be secure, does not constitute enjoyment. We all know the effects which any indisposition of the body, even though slight, produces on external prosperity. The corrupted temper and the guilty passions of the bad frustrate the effect of every advantage which the world confers on them. None but the temperate, the regular, and the virtuous know how to enjoy prosperity. Prosperity is redoubled to a good man by his generous use of it. It is reflected back upon him from everyone whom he makes happy.
4. Religion heightens the prosperity of good men by the prospect which it affords them of greater happiness to come in another world. What is present is never sufficient to give us full satisfaction. To the present we must always join some agreeable anticipations of futurity in order to complete our pleasure. Let this be our conclusion, that, both in prosperity and in adversity, religion is the safest guide of human life. Conducted by its light, we real) the pleasures and, at the same time, escape the dangers of a prosperous state. (Hugh Blair, D. D.)
The song of the prosperous life
I. The prosperous life is a life made prosperous by refusal.
1. The man will refuse to think wrongly. Counsel–that is, the thought or creed of the ungodly. Non-use of thought in certain directions results in inability of thought toward those directions. Mr. Darwin confessed himself atrophied toward music, painting, poetry, etc., through the so constant using of himself in ways simply scientific this atrophy of thought is just as possible in religious directions. A man who will not take counsel toward God cannot at last. The man of the really prosperous life will not walk in such counsel of the ungodly; he will think toward God.
2. He will refuse to practise wrongly, way of sinners. At the battle of Ahna, in the Crimean War, one of the ensigns stood his ground when the regiment retreated. The captain shouted to him to bring back the colours; but the ensign replied, Bring the men up to the colours. So this man of the prosperous life will maintain high and brave practice of the right, whoever may retreat from it.
3. Will refuse to speak wrongly, seat of the scornful. Into their sort of speech he will not enter.
II. By reception.
1. He will receive all ennobling and uplifting objects of affection; but his delight is in the law of the Lord. The controlling thing in a man is his topmost love.
2. This man loves to think of what he loves. Meditate day and night. Hang this upon the wall of your room, said a wise picture dealer to an Oxford undergraduate, as he handed him the engraving of a Madonna of Raphael, and then all the pictures of jockeys and ballet girls will disappear.
III. Results. Noble growth. Propitious placing. Sustenance. Fruitfulness. Beauty of character. Real prosperity. (Wayland Hoyt, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Like a tree planted] Not like one growing wild, however strong or luxuriant it may appear; but one that has been carefully cultivated; and for the proper growth of which all the advantages of soil and situation have been chosen. If a child be brought up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord, we have both reason and revelation to encourage us to expect a godly and useful life. Where religious education is neglected, alas! what fruits of righteousness can be expected? An uncultivated soul is like an uncultivated field, all overgrown with briers, thorns, and thistles.
By the rivers of water] palgey mayim, the streams or divisions of the waters. Alluding to the custom of irrigation in the eastern countries, where streams are conducted from a canal or river to different parts of the ground, and turned off or on at pleasure; the person having no more to do than by his foot to turn a sod from the side of one stream, to cause it to share its waters with the other parts to which he wishes to direct his course. This is called “watering the land with the foot,” De 11:10, where see the note.
His fruit in his season] In such a case expectation is never disappointed. Fruit is expected, fruit is borne; and it comes also in the time in which it should come. A godly education, under the influences of the Divine Spirit, which can never be withheld where they are earnestly sought, is sure to produce the fruits of righteousness; and he who reads, prays, and meditates, will ever see the work which God has given him to do; the power by which he is to perform it; and the times, places, and opportunities for doing those things by which God can obtain most glory, his own soul most good, and his neighbour most edification.
His leaf also shall not wither] His profession of true religion shall always be regular and unsullied; and his faith be ever shown by his works. As the leaves and the fruit are the evidences of the vegetative perfection of the tree; so a zealous religious profession, accompanied with good works, are the evidences of the soundness of faith in the Christian man. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi gives a curious turn to this expression: he considers the leaves as expressing those matters of the law that seem to be of no real use, to be quite unimportant, and that apparently neither add nor diminish. But even these things are parts of the Divine revelation, and all have their use; so even the apparently indifferent actions or sayings of a truly holy man have their use; and from the manner and spirit in which they are done or said, have the tendency to bear the observer to something great and good.
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper] It is always healthy; it is extending its roots, increasing its woody fibres, circulating its nutritive juices, putting forth fruitbuds, blossoms, leaves, or fruit; and all these operations go on in a healthy tree, in their proper seasons. So the godly man; he is ever taking deeper root growing stronger in the grace he has already received, increasing in heavenly desires, and under the continual influence of the Divine Spirit, forming those purposes from which much fruit to the glory and praise of God shall be produced.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And, or for, as this particle is oft used, as Psa 60:12; Psa 108:13; Pro 4:17; this being the proof of that blessedness of a good man, which he had only asserted, Psa 1:1.
By the rivers, i.e. a river; the plural number being put for the singular, as it is Jdg 12:7; Jon 1:5, and oft elsewhere.
In his season, i.e. in the time of fruit-bearing; which being applied to the good man, notes either,
1. His active goodness, that he seeketh and improveth all opportunities for the doing of good, exercising godliness, justice, temperance, charity, patience, &c., according to the several occasions offered to him. Or rather,
2. His certain prosperity and happiness, as may be gathered from the end of this verse, and the opposite state of the ungodly, Psa 1:4,5; that he shall have the fruit or benefit of his godly life in due time, or when it is expedient for him; possibly in this life, but assuredly in the next life.
His leaf also shall not wither; his happiness is not short and transitory, as all worldly felicity is; but fixed and everlasting, like those trees which are continually green and flourishing: or, and (like a tree) whose leaf never withers. Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper; all his actions shall be crowned with success, and a blessed end or effect: see Rom 8:28.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. like a tree (Jer 17:7;Jer 17:8).
plantedsettled, fast.
byor, “over.”
the riverscanals forirrigation.
shall prosperliterally,”make prosper,” brings to perfection. The basis of thiscondition and character is given (Ps32:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,…. Or, “for then shall he be”, c. as Alshech renders the words and the Hebrew “vau” is often used for “then” q. As Ps 1:1 describe the man who is blessed, this points at his blessedness, and shows and proves him to be an happy man; for he is comparable to a “tree”: not to a dry tree, or a tree without fruit, or whose fruit is withered, but to a fruitful tree, a green and flourishing one; green olive tree, or a palm tree, or a cedar in Lebanon; to which David compares himself and the righteous, Ps 52:8; and here such an one is compared to a tree “planted”; not to one that grows of itself, a wild tree, a tree of the wood; but to one that is removed from its native place and soil, and planted elsewhere; and so designs such who are broken off of the wild olive tree, and are grafted into the good olive tree; who are planted in Christ Jesus, and in the church, the house of the Lord; of which transplantation the removal of Israel into Canaan’s land was an emblem, Ps 80:8; and such a spiritual plantation is of God the husbandman; whose planting the saints are efficiently, Isa 60:21. And it is owing to the word, the ingrafted word, Jas 1:21, which is the means of this ingrafture, and to the ministers of it instrumentally; some of whom plant, and others water, 1Co 3:6. Moreover, the happy man before described is like a tree that is situated “by the rivers of water”, or “divisions” r and rivulets of water; which running about the plants, make them very fruitful and flourishing; see Eze 31:4; and which may intend the river of the love of God, and the streams of it, the discoveries and applications of it to regenerate persons; and also the fulness of grace in Christ, who is the fountain of gardens, the well of living waters and streams from Lebanon, to revive, refresh, supply, and comfort his people, So 4:15; as well as the graces of the Spirit of God, which are near the saints, and like rivers of water flow out of them that believe in Christ, Joh 7:38; to which may be added the word and ordinances of the Gospel, which are the still waters, to which they are invited and led, and by which and with which they are greatly refreshed, and made fruitful. Arama interprets it of the waters of the law; it is best to understand it of the Gospel; see Isa 55:1; it follows,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; and so appears to be a tree of righteousness, filled with the fruits of righteousness, the graces of the Spirit, and good works; which are brought forth by him under the influence of grace, as he has opportunity, and according to the measure of grace bestowed. His leaf also shall not wither; neither tree, nor fruit, nor leaf shall wither, but shall be always green; which is expressive of the saints’ perseverance: the reasons of which are, they are ingrafted in Christ the true vine, and abide in him, from whom they have their sap, nourishment, and fruit, Joh 15:1; they are rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith of him; and so they hold fast the profession of it without wavering;
and whatsoever he doth shall prosper; meaning not so much in things temporal, of which Arama interprets it, for in these the good man does not always succeed, but in things spiritual: whatever he does in faith, from love, to the glory of God, and in the name of Christ, prospers; yea, those things in which he is concerned, that are adverse, and seem for the present to be against him, in the issue work for good to him: in short, such a man is blessed with grace here, and glory hereafter; and therefore must needs be an happy man.
q Vid. Noldii Concord. Part. Ebr. p. 308. r “juxta divisiones”; Musculus, Hammond; so Ben Melech.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Psalmist here illustrates, and, at the same time, confirms by a metaphor the statement made in the preceding verse; for he shows in what respect those who fear God are to be accounted happy, namely, not because they enjoy an evanescent and empty gladness, but because they are in a desirable condition. There is in the words an implied contrast between the vigor of a tree planted in a situation well watered, and the decayed appearance of one which, although it may flourish beautifully for a time, yet soon withers on account of the barrenness of the soil in which it is placed. With respect to the ungodly, as we shall afterwards see, (Psa 37:35) they are sometimes like “the cedars of Lebanon.” They have such an overflowing abundance of wealth and honors, that nothing seems wanting to their present happiness. But however high they may be raised, and however far and wide they may spread their branches, yet having no root in the ground, nor even a sufficiency of moisture from which they may derive nourishment, the whole of their beauty by and by disappears, and withers away. It is, therefore, the blessing of God alone which preserves any in a prosperous condition. Those who explain the figure of the faithful bringing forth their fruit in season, as meaning that they wisely discern when a thing ought to be done so as to be done well, in my opinion, show more acuteness than judgment, by putting a meaning upon the words of the prophet which he never intended. He obviously meant nothing more than that the children of God constantly flourish, and are always watered with the secret influences of divine grace, so that whatever may befall them is conducive to their salvation; while, on the other hand, the ungodly are carried away by the sudden tempest, or consumed by the scorching heat. And when he says, he bringeth forth his fruit in season, (23) he expresses the full maturity of the fruit produced, whereas, although the ungodly may present the appearance of precocious fruitfulness, yet they produce nothing that comes to perfection.
(23) “And it bringeth forth all its produce to maturity.” — ( Street’s New Literal Version of the Psalms.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) And he.Better, So is he. For the image so forcible in an Eastern clime, where vegetation depends on proximity to a stream, comp. Psa. 52:8; Psa. 92:12; Isa. 44:4; and its development in Jer. 17:7-8. The full moral bearing of the image appears in our Lords parabolic saying, a good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit. The physical growth of a tree has in all poetry served as a ready emblem of success, as its decay has of failure. (Recall Wolseys comment on his fall in Shakespeares Henry VIII.) Nor has the moral significance of vegetable life been ignored. If, says a German poet, thou wouldest attain to thy highest, go look upon a flower, and what that does unconsciously do thou consciously. In Hebrew poetry a moral purpose is given to the grass on the mountain side and the flower in the field, and we are taught that there is not a virtue within the widest range of human conduct, not a grace set on high for mans aspiration, which has not its fitting emblem in vegetable life.Bible Educator, ii, p. 179.
For the general comparison of a righteous man to a tree, comp. Psa. 3:8 (the olive), Psa. 128:3 (vine); Hos. 14:6 (olive and cedar). Naturally the actual kind of tree in the poets thought interests us. The oleander suggested by Dean Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 146), though answering the description in many ways, fails from its want of fruit to satisfy the principal condition. For, as Bishop Hall says, Look where you will in Gods Book, you shall never find any lively member of Gods house, any true Christian, compared to any but a fruitful tree. Probably the palm meets all the conditions best. (Comp. Psa. 92:12.)
The last clause, Whatsoever he doeth, it shall, &c, is obscure in construction. The best rendering is, all that he doeth he maketh to prosper, which may mean either the righteous man carries out to a successful end all his enterprises, or all that he begins he brings to a maturity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Rivers of water The word “rivers,” here, properly denotes lesser or divided “rivers,” such as proceed either from fountains, where moisture is naturally found in the dry season, (1Ki 18:5,) or such artificial channels as abounded in Egypt and Babylonia, (see on Psa 137:1,) and on a smaller scale in the lowlands and gardens of Palestine.
Ecc 2:5-6; Isa 58:11. Such irrigating streams (Psa 46:4) were a luxury to the people of a parching climate.
Fruit in his season Comp. Mat 13:5-6.
Leaf shall not wither The leaf, an ornament of beauty, the most delicate of its vital organs, and so the earliest to betray any want of vitality in the tree.
Whatsoever he doeth Conformably to his character and profession.
Shall prosper Herein is brought out the literal import of the foregoing figures. That the righteous shall prosper is an eternal truth under the moral government of God, (1Ti 4:8😉 not always in this life and in worldly things, but morally, upon the whole, and in the final result, which shows the necessity of a judgment day, and of final awards.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 1:3. Like a tree planted by the rivers of water It is observed by Fleury, in his excellent dissertation concerning this and several other psalms of the like kind, whose subjects are purely moral, that the want of tender expressions and pathetic sentiments is sufficiently compensated by beautiful paintings, fine metaphors, and noble comparisons. The literal sense of the word palgei rendered rivers, is divisions, which may refer to the custom of conveying water to orchards or gardens by cuts or trenches, from springs or rivers, to be diverted or stopped, or applied in a greater or less plenty to this or that plantation, as the gardener shall direct: and this acceptation of the word is very proper for this place, as referring to an abundantly flourishing fruit-tree. His and he should be rendered in this verse its and it; Whatsoever it doeth; i.e. the metaphor being kept up “Whatsoever this tree bringeth forth, whether bud, blossom, or fruit, it shall prosper.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Had we no other clue to lead to the discovery of the Lord Jesus, as set forth in this Psalm, than what is here said of him, even this would plainly unfold it. For who but Jesus is the tree of life! Who flourisheth but him! Yes, blessed Redeemer, thy people planted in thee, am! made branches in thee, will thrive in thee, and bring forth fruit in thee, for thou hast said, because ‘I live ye shall live also.’ But though in thee, and by thee, and from thee, thy people live and derive all life, and nourishment, and moisture, and fruitfulness, in due season, yet it is because thou art the self-existing, life-imparting tree, in the midst of the garden of Jehovah; and being the same yesterday, to day, and forever, thou art liable to no fading, nor falling, but art always blooming, both in blossom and fruit, towards thy people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Ver. 3. And he shall be like a tree ] An olive tree, say some, from Psa 52:8 , which is green all the year, saith Pliny; that in Noah’s flood kept its greenness though it had been so long time under the water; and is, therefore, made an emblem of the resurrection. Others will have it to be the palm tree, from Psa 92:12 , which likewise is always green, and very fruitful. Plutarch saith that the Babylonians make three hundred and sixty commodities of it. The tree whereon the cocoa nuts grow in the Indies is said to be such as wherewith alone a ship may be built, and furnished to sea with food and merchandise. Let it be what tree it will that is here meant, if Plato could say that man is a tree inverted, with the root above and the branches below, and that he is , a heavenly plant, D , as another hath it (Homer); much more may we say so of a godly man, that plant of renown, rooted in Christ, and fruited by the Spirit, of a right constitution and righteous conversation, Gal 5:25 . See Jer 17:8 Eze 47:12 .
Planted by the rivers of water
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season
His leaf also shall not wither
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
be = become, or prove. Figure of speech Simile. App-6. Like a tree. The first of two comparisons. See Psa 1:4.
planted: i.e. in a garden. Not a “tree of the field”.
rivers = divisions irrigating a garden. Hebrew. palgey-mayim. See note on Pro 21:1.
prosper. Compare Gen 39:3, Gen 39:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 1:3
Psa 1:3
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also doth not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The first three lines here are a simile comparing a righteous person with a favorably planted fruit tree, the constant nourishment of which is supplied by the streams of water; and just as the drying up of those streams would destroy any such tree, the intended lesson for men is that any cessation of reading, hearing and meditation upon God’s Word will likewise diminish or destroy Christian fruitfulness.
Here lies the absolute necessity for attendance of regular public worship on the part of any person who desires the ultimate accolade, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”!
“Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” It has been true in all ages and is true today that honesty, sobriety, virtue, diligence, truthfulness, and fidelity are human qualities eagerly sought and rewarded in the business endeavors of the world, these being almost exclusively the traits of God’s people; and while there must certainly be exceptions to this general rule, it is nevertheless the truth.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 1:3. Rivers of water is a significant phrase. The first word is from PELEG which means, “a rill (i.e. small channel of water, as in irrigation).” –Strong. It is from another Hebrew word meaning, “to split (literally or figuratively).” It refers to places where two streams meet and the soil between them is always moist, therefore fruitful. Both fruit and foliage need nourishment and the life-giving liquid is ever present because of the condition brought about by the two streams. However, the moisture saturating the ground near the tree would be of no value did the tree not reach out and drink of it. Likewise the happy man of God is enabled to thrive because he does his part by reaching for the life-giving source in the stream of God’s truth. Whatsoever he doeth is based on the condition that he delights in the law of the Lord and constantly meditates therein. The prosperity assured him is of a spiritual nature, not that any special providence is to be expected as a reward for his study of the Word.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
tree: Job 14:9, Isa 44:4, Jer 17:8, Eze 17:8, Eze 19:10, Eze 47:12, Rev 22:2
bringeth: Psa 92:14, Mat 21:34, Mat 21:41
shall not: Isa 27:11, Mat 13:6, Mat 21:19, Joh 15:6, Jud 1:12
wither: Heb. fade
whatsoever: Psa 128:2, Psa 129:8, Gen 39:3, Gen 39:23, Jos 1:7, Jos 1:8, 1Ch 22:11, 2Ch 31:21, 2Ch 32:23, Isa 3:10
Reciprocal: Gen 1:11 – fruit Gen 24:40 – will Gen 30:27 – the Lord Num 24:6 – as the trees Deu 7:13 – he will love 1Sa 18:5 – behaved 1Ki 2:3 – prosper 2Ki 18:7 – he prospered 2Ch 26:5 – and as long Neh 6:15 – wall Est 9:4 – waxed Job 29:19 – root Psa 52:8 – like Psa 111:10 – a good understanding Pro 3:33 – he blesseth Pro 11:28 – but Pro 12:12 – the root Ecc 2:6 – to water Isa 3:11 – Woe Jer 8:13 – the leaf Dan 3:30 – promoted Mat 3:10 – therefore Mat 7:17 – every Mar 4:6 – no root Mar 4:28 – first Mar 12:2 – at Luk 20:10 – the season Act 8:28 – and sitting Act 17:11 – and searched Gal 5:22 – the fruit Phi 1:11 – filled Col 2:7 – Rooted 1Ti 4:13 – to reading
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THREE ASPECTS OF GODLY CHARACTER
A tree planted by the waterside.
Psa 1:3 (Prayer Book Version)
I. Its variety.The comparison is with a fruit tree, not of any particular kind, but one of that large class of trees. The variety which God stamps upon nature He means to have reproduced in character.
II. Its Divine culture.The godly man is not like a tree that grows wild. He is like a tree planted, and that in a place which will best promote its growth. Godly character is developed under Gods special supervision and with Gods own appliances.
III. Its fruitfulness.Gods tree by Gods river must be a fruitful tree. Notice: (1) The words are his fruit, not any other trees fruit. (2) In his season. The seasons are different for different fruits. The latest fruit is usually the best. But, early or late, the fruit of godly character is seasonable.
Illustrations
(1) Like our Lords Sermon on the Mount, this first psalm opens with a benediction. The word blessed, or more accurately blessednesses, is the first to greet us. Oh, the blessednesses of the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. This psalm begins where all true saints hope to endin perfect blessedness. The Psalter begins with blessing man, and ends with praising God.
(2) The leaf is the thing of the spring time. It is the first thing that comes. Well, in the Christian life spring-leaf shall ever remain. The spring greenness of life shall not wither as the years roll by. The beauties of the spring time shall continue through all the seventy years. The beauties of early life, of young life, the beauties of childhood, shall never be destroyed. His leaf shall not wither. His childlikeness, the glory of the spring time of life, shall always be fresh and beautiful; it shall never wither away.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 1:3. And, or For, he shall be like a tree, &c. This is the proof of that blessedness of a good man which he had only asserted, Psa 1:1. He shall be fruitful and flourishing. By his meditations on the law of God, his graces and virtues shall be nourished and increased, and he shall be thoroughly furnished for every good word and work. The means of grace are those rivers of water near which the trees of righteousness are planted, and from these they receive supplies of strength and vigour, but in secret, undiscerned ways. That bringeth forth fruit in his season That is, in the time of fruit-bearing; which, being applied to the good man, denotes either, 1st, His active goodness, that he seeks and improves all opportunities for doing good, exercising faith, hope, and love, piety and virtue, justice, mercy, charity, temperance, patience, meekness, long-suffering, according to the several occasions offered him: or, 2d, The issue thereof, the happiness resulting therefrom; that he shall have the fruit, or benefit, of his godly life in due time, and when it will be most for his advantage, possibly in some measure in this life, but assuredly in the life to come. His leaf also shall not wither His blessedness is not short and transitory, as all worldly felicity is, but fixed and everlasting, like those trees which are continually green and flourishing. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper All his actions, being directed by the word, providence and grace of God, shall be crowned with success in one respect or another, (for even disappointments, losses, and afflictions, shall work for his good,) and with a blessed effect or end.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and {c} whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
(c) God’s children are so moistened with his grace, that whatever comes to them, tends to their salvation.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
All who delight in and meditate on God’s law will prosper like a flourishing fruit tree (cf. Psa 92:12-14). Their fruit will appear at the proper time, not necessarily immediately, and their general spiritual health, represented by the leaves, will be good. Usually the fruit God said He would produce in the lives of most Old Testament believers was physical prosperity (cf. Deu 28:1-14). The fruit a Christian bears is mainly a transformed character and godly conduct (cf. Gal 5:22-23). In both cases it is God’s blessing on one’s words and works. His prosperity is from God’s viewpoint, not necessarily from the world’s.
The most important part of a tree is its hidden root system because it draws up water and nourishment that feeds the tree. Without a healthy root system a tree will die, and without a healthy "root system" a believer will wilt. Fruit, in biblical imagery, is what is visible to other people, not just what is hidden within a person. It is also what benefits other people, what others can take from us that nourishes them (cf. Joh 15:1-11). In contrast, leaves are what others simply see and admire.